First India-Mumbai Edition-30th September 2022

Will not contest Congress president polls, says Ashok Gehlot

NEW CM IN A DAY OR TWO, SAYS VENUGOPAL

l “Whatever happend, was wrong. I am hurt”, Ashok Gehlot apologises to Sonia Gandhi for the MLAs’ fiasco

l I won’t decide that, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will decide that, says Gehlot when asked about his CMship

New Delhi: Rajasthan

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said that he will not fight for the post of Congress chief. His re marks came after the veteran leader met with party’s interim chief Sonia Gandhi at her residence at 10 Janpath in the national capital on Thursday.

“I met Rahul Gandhi in Kochi and requested him to fight the polls (for Congress President). When he didn’t accept, I said I’ll contest but now with that incident (po litical crisis in Ra jasthan), I have decided not to contest the elec tions,” CM Gehlot said.

Gehlot also apolo gised for the ruckus in Rajasthan triggered by his loyalists over a pos

sible leadership change in the state after Ge hlot was set to file his nomination papers for

the Congress chief polls. Gehlot said that whatever happened in the state in the past two

TODAY IS LAST DAY OF FILING NOMINATIONS, IT WILL BE CLEAR WHO ALL WILL CONTEST: KC

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will decide on the Rajasthan CM’s post within a day or two, party general secretary KC Venugopal said on Thursday. He also said it will be clear by Friday, the last day of filing nominations for the top post, who all will contest. The comments came soon after Rajasthan CM Gehlot announced that he will not contest the Congress presidential polls.

SHASHI THAROOR AND DIGVIJAYA SINGH TO FILE NOMINATION FOR CONG PREZ TODAY

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will submit his nomination papers for the AICC presidential elections 12.15pm in Delhi on Friday.

Tharoor will also hold a PC at 1pm at his residence.

However, he will have a tough contest against senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who will also file his nomination for Congress president’s post on Friday.

persons after meeting Sonia Gandhi. Infact, Gehlot took a page with him on which was written, “Whatever happened, was wrong. I am hurt.”

Interestingly, accord ing to highly placed sources in the grand old party, Sonia questioned Gehlot, “What all hap pened in Rajasthan and why did it happen?” To this Gehlot replied, “Even I do not know. But this happened and I am sad for it. You gave me everything.”

days had shocked eve ryone. “I had a conver sation with Congress interim president So

nia Gandhi. Whatever happened two days ago shocked us. It gave a message that all of it

happened as I wanted to be CM. I apologised to her,” said CM Gehlot addressing the media

‘SUPREME’

GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX 2022: INDIA RISES TO 40TH SPOT

New Delhi: India has leapfrogged to 40th position on GII 2022 from the 81st spot in 2015, the govt said on Thursday. The country was ranked 46th on the index last year. The WIPO, a specialised agency of the UNs, released GII report for 2022 on Thursday.

‘4 UKRAINE AREAS

TO BE FOLDED IN RUSSIA TODAY’

Moscow: Russia’s Vladimir Putin will hold a signing ceremony on Friday formally annexing four more areas of Ukraine where occupied areas held Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” on living under Moscow’s rule that the Ukrainian government and West denounced as illegal and rigged. Putin to attend ceremony today.

CBI AGAINST DRUG CARTELS; 127 CASES

FILED, 175 ARRESTED

New Delhi: The CBI carried out a widespread operation — Operation Garuda — along with the Interpol and state police to bust drug cartels with international links across India. Forces arrested 175, filed 127 cases across the country.

FOR US VISA, 2-YR WAIT FOR DELHI, 2 DAYS FOR BEIJING

New Delhi: Indian visa applicants require a waittime of over 2 yrs just for getting an appointment, a US govt website showed, while timeframe is only 2 days for countries like China. There’s an appointment wait-time of 833 days for applications from Delhi. Whereas, the wait-time is only 2 days for Beijing and 450 days for Islamabad.

After this CM Ashok Gehlot reportedly of fered to resign from the post of Chief Minister, but Sonia did not give any response to Ge hlot’s offer. As a result, now Rajasthan Con gress is in a situation of uncertainty. Turn to P6

: Marital rape is now recognised

POWER IS A MEAN TO SERVE PEOPLE’

‘

Surat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday laid the foun dation stone and dedi cated various projects worth more than Rs 3,400 crores in Gujarat’s Surat. He is on a twoday visit to the state.

“After the formation of double engine govt in Gujarat, construction of houses has also acceler ated and other facilities are also being provided to the poor and middle class in Surat,” PM said.

PM said that Bhavna gar Port will play an im portant role in building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat and hundreds of new employment opportuni ties in the fields of stor age, transportation and logistics will be created. In a veiled dig at AAP, which is hoping to oust BJP from power in Guja rat polls, PM said, “For us, power is a means to serve people; we carried out development with out spending huge money on publici ty.”

Prime Minister Modi also said, “I have implement Saurashtra Narmada Avta ran Irrigation scheme.”

Arindam Bagchi @MEAIndia Join India’s G20 Secretariat and contribute to shaping the global agenda under India’s Presidency. G20 Secretariat invites applications for Senior Policy Specialists /Policy Specialists. Visit http:// g20recruitment.mea.gov. in for more details. Last date to apply 12 Oct 2022.

PM TO VISIT AMBAJI

VIA SIROHI TODAY

PM Modi

Rajasthan on Friday. PM Modi

the

worth over

7,000 crore in Ambaji. A new 150 km railway line between Ambaji to Abu Road is also scheduled to be inaugurated.

New Delhi: The SC on Thurday hearing 25-year-old unmarried woman case said that all women are entitled to safe and legal abor tion. No distinction will be made between mar ried and unmarried un der abortion law in In dia. For purposes of abortion, rape will in clude marital rape too. It stated unmarried women are also entitled to seek abortion in 20-24 wks arising out of con sensual relationship.

Dussehra rally: Shinde faction releases teaser

Mumbai (PTI): The Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena on Thursday released a teaser video of their proposed Dussehra ral ly at Bandra Kurla Com plex (BKC) with the claim that the event was of the “Shiv Sena”.

A 20-second video tweeted by Chief Minis ter Shinde, with the voice of late Bal Thack eray in the background, said the saffron flag of Shivaji, Shiv Sena and Hindutva Turn to P6

6 airbags must in cars from Oct 1, ’23: Gadkari

New Delhi (ANI): The Union government has decided to defer the im plementation of the sixairbag safety rule for passenger cars in India until October next year. This was announced by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday. The rule will be implemented from October 1, 2023.

The govt had planned to make 6 airbags must in all eight-seater vehi cles from Oct 1, 2022.

MAHA ANNOUNCES

‘IND IS RICH NATION WITH POOR PEOPLE’ Nagpur: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday in Nagpur said even as India has emerged as the world’s fifth largest economy and although the country is rich, its population is poor, facing issues like starvation, unemployment, casteism, untouchability and inflation.

`755 CRORE RELIEF FOR FARMERS

More than 6 lakh agri workers lost crops due to heavy rainfall this year

First India Bureau

Mumbai: More than six lakh farmers in the state who lost crops due to heavy rains but were not eligible for aid un der the existing criteria will receive financial assistance of Rs755

crore, the Maharashtra government said on Thursday.

Deputy Chief Minis ter and state Finance Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, made the an nouncement on Twitter after a sub-committee

formed to expedite as sistance to calamity-hit farmers met in Mumbai during the day.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Minis ter Eknath Shinde and attended by Fadnavis and state Rural Devel opment Minister Girish Mahajan.

More than six lakh farmers will get a total assistance of Rs755 crore, said Fadnavis.

The state had already disbursed Turn to P6

Days after Modi’s ‘trouble-shooters’ Nadda and Shah’s visit, now PM’s show in Gujarat

THE BJP’S GUJ ‘RAJ’

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates projects worth `3,400 crore in Surat, hails double-engine govt in Guj

PM Modi also inaugurated 36th National Games which are being organised for the first time in the State

Moni Sharma

PM Narendra Modi lays foundation stone & dedicates various projects to the nation, in Surat on Thursday. Also seen here are Bhupendra Patel, CR Paatil and other leaders during the ceremony.

PM HAILS ATHLETES ON 36TH NATIONAL

AT NARENDRA MODI STADIUM

‘Transfer of Orissa CJ to Madras HC’ SC Collegium headed by Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit is learnt to have recommended to Union govt the transfer of CJ of the Orissa HC, Justice S Muralidhar, as CJ of Madras HC, sourc es said on Thursday.

PM Narendra Modi, Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat and Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Anurag Thakur at Opening ceremony of 36th National Games in Ahmedabad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bhavnagar on Thursday.

Washington: India believes US President’s promise of reforming the UN Security Council is different from past Washington pledges, external affairs minister S.Jaishankar said, while acknowledging that path to Delhi’s elevation in body is still not easy, no one country can make it happen. P5

Law in modern times is shedding the notion that marriage is a precondition for the rights of persons. MTP act must consider the realities of today, must not be restricted by old norms. Law must keep in mind changing social realities.

—The court

If the rule is understood as only for married women, then it would perpetuate the stereotype that only married women indulge in sexual activities, which is not constitutionally sustainable.

—Justice Chandrachud

Aditi Nagar & Amit Mishra

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot with Congress Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal leaves after the meeting with party interim President Sonia Gandhi, at her residence, in Delhi on Thursday.

PHOTO BY ANI

‘Committing hate crimes PFI’s plan’

Maharashtra ATS recovers docs supporting outfit’s agenda of making India an Islamic nation by 2047

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Maharash tra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Vineet Agarwal on Thursday said the now banned outfit Popular Front of In dia (PFI) had drawn up a plan to encour age its members to commit hate crimes and carry out target ed killings.

The Centre on Wednesday banned the PFI and several of its associates for five years under a stringent antiterror law, accusing them of having “links” with global terror groups like the Islamic State (ISIS).

Agarwal, an Addi tional Director General of Police (ADGP), said during its recent opera tion in Maharashtra, the ATS seized incrimi nating documents from people arrested for links with PFI and one of the papers talked about the outfit’s ‘road map’ till 2047.

According to the seized paper, members of the group were plan ning targeted killings as a part of their agen da, said the senior IPS

We are using tools to recover their data.

They had planned to make India an Islamic country by 2047 by motivating people to commit hate crimes when India completes 100 years of independ ence. But the govern ment crackdown has toppled their plans.

—Vineet Agarwal, Maha ATS chief

MAHA GOVT ISSUES COMPLIANCE ORDER ON CENTRE’S PFI BAN

Mumbai (FIB): The state Home Department has issued an order under Section 42 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) authorizing police commissioners and district magistrates to exercise their pow ers against the Popular

officer without elabo rating.

He only said that the outfit was planning to target big leaders and people associated with the Rashtriya Swayam

DUE MAINTENANCE

Front of India (PFI).

“Under Section 42 of the UAPA, and with the previous approval of the Central government, the Maharashtra Home Department has issued an order. All powers under Sections 7 and 8 of UAPA will be exercised

sevak Sangh (RSS).

The ADGP said PFI members used to por tray themselves as per sons associated with social development and physical education to

by police commissioners and district magistrates against the PFI and other related associations,” said sources from the Department. The move comes a day after the Union Home Ministry imposed a ban on the PFI for “terror links”.

give lectures to incite people.

“PFI had opened train ing centres in several places across Maharash tra. They used to gather people and show them

Other states including Kerala and Tamil Nadu have passed such orders declaring the PFI as an unlawful association.

Along with PFI, the ban is also imposed on other outfits such as Campus Front of India, National Women’s Front, etc.

old videos and incidents to provoke their anger. Outfit members used to tell participants to keep items for self-defence such as stones, knives, swords, bricks, sharp ob

jects and other things on their terraces,” he said.

The Maharashtra ATS is scrutinizing bank accounts of PFI members and function aries and is going to freeze them, said the ADGP.

On other evidence re covered by the ATS, Agarwal said, “There are lakhs of rupees in the seized bank ac counts. After verifica tion of information about the money origin, we (ATS) were able to determine that it had been coming from dif ferent sources.”

‘Saffron flag has to be in one’s heart, not just hands’

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thack eray on Thursday took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sena faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde by stating the “saffron flag needs to be in one’s heart and not just in one’s hands.”

The BJP and Shinde faction have often ac cused Thackeray of compromising on the ideals of Hindutva by joining hands with the Congress and National ist Congress Party (NCP) for the sake of power. He was the chief minister of Maharash tra in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government formed with a coalition with Congress and NCP.

Speaking to his party workers at his residence ‘Matoshree’ on Thurs day, Thackeray said, “This is an opportunity given to us by God to save democracy in the country and preserve Hindutva. The saffron flag does not have to be

just in one’s hands, it has to be in one’s heart. It is in my heart.”

Thackeray asked his party workers to attend the annual Dussehra rally in a disciplined manner, which he will address at Shivaji Park on October 05.

On the ongoing case in the Supreme Court and the Election Com mission of India (ECI) on which faction of the Sena is the original one, Thackeray said “we need to win this battle in court as well as be fore the ECI”.

Have prayed to rid Maharashtra of ‘betrayal, defections’: Danve

First India Bureau

Gondia (PTI): Shiv Sena legislators were not getting funds and party workers were feeling “suffocat ed” when the Ud dhav Thacker ay-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power in Ma harashtra, said rebel leader Vijay Shivtare on Thursday.

Shirdi to host NCP’s state-level meet

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The statelevel meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will be organized on Novem ber 04-05 in Shirdi in Ahmednagar district.

Party’s state unit chief Jayant Patil said that the decision was taken by NCP Supremo

Sharad Pawar in a meet ing on Thursday.

The two-day event will witness the pres ence of all major NCP state leaders, he added.

“We discussed par ty’s preparations for upcoming civic and lo cal body elections,”he said.

By joining hands with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the party’s traditional opponents, the Shiv Sena’s Hindu tva ideology was “weak ened”, he added.

Shivtare, a former minister, belongs to the rebel Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

“During the MVA re gime, Shiv Sena was on the backfoot even though the party had the chief minister’s post,” he said.

Thane: Leader of Op position in the Maha rashtra Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, on Thursday said he prayed to the Goddess to rid the state of “betrayal and defections”. He visited a Navratri pandal in Thane city.

Danve, who supports the Uddhav Thackerayled Shiv Sena, on Wednesday evening visited a Navratri event organized in Thane by the rebel par ty faction led by CM Eknath Shinde.

The Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had collapsed in June this year following a revolt by Shinde and 39 other legislators against the Sena lead ership. Shinde was lat er sworn in as the chief minister along with Bharatiya Janata Par ty (BJP) leader, Deven dra Fadnavis, as his

Maha Council LoP visited a Goddess Durga pandal in Thane city on Wed

deputy.

Talking to reporters after visiting the Navratri pandal, Danve said, “This is the land of thoughts of Chhatra pati Shivaji Maharaj,

thoughts of loyalty. I prayed to the Goddess to rid the state of be trayal and defections.”

He said in the last three months, citizens of the state have shown which group is the ‘real’ Shiv Sena.

“Sena founder, the late Bal Thackeray’s thoughts and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s leader ship is receiving good support from citizens,” he claimed.

Thane: Guardian Minister of Thane district, Shamb huraj Desai, on Thursday lashed out at Leader of Opposition in the Maha rashtra Legis lative Council Ambadas Danve for saying that he prayed to Goddess to rid the state of “betrayals”. Desai was talking to the media during his first visit to Thane district after he was appointed its guardian minister. “When someone prays to the almighty, he asks for good things. But Danve wanted harm to come to the rebel MLAs. It shows his culture,” said the minister who belongs to the Eknath Shinde fac tion of the Shiv Sena. Desai on Thursday visited ‘Anand Ashram’ at Tembhi Naka, the place from where late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, used to operate.

Will probe ‘inflated rate’ vehicle purchases under MVA rule: Dy CM

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The state government will con duct an inquiry into alleged irregularities in the purchase of ve hicles by the Relief and Rehabilitation Department when the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Agahdi (MVA) was in power, said Deputy Chief Minis ter Devendra Fad navis, on Wednesday. He made the an nouncement after a re

gional news channel claimed to have ac cessed documents that, it said, showed the Re lief and Rehabilitation Department purchased vehicles allegedly at in flated prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The channel, citing the documents, claimed one of the vehicles--a mini bus--was purchased for Rs3 crore when its market price was Rs25 lakh to Rs30 lakh.

“The state govern ment will conduct an

inquiry into the allega tions of buying vehicles at inflated prices. The details will come out in

due course of time,”

Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfo lio, told reporters when

asked about the sus pected scam.

The Relief and Reha bilitation Department, then-headed by Con gress minister Vijay Wadettiwar, had pur chased 18 vehicles which were equipped to quickly respond in event of a natural ca lamity, according to the channel.

These vehicles, titled ‘Devdoot’, were pur chased despite objection from the state finance department, it said.

Wadettiwar, the thendisaster management and relief and rehabili tation minister, said he was ready to face any probe.

“I am ready for in quiry because rates of vehicles were finalized when Devendra Fad navis was chief minis ter (2014-19). I had only approved them when the relevant file came to me. Otherwise, I have nothing to do with this development,” said the Congress leader.

‘TARGET OF FITTING 2 LAKH SOLAR AGRICULTURAL PUMPS IN STATE’

Mumbai (PTI): Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the government has fixed the target of installing two lakh solar agricul tural pumps in the state. Fadnavis, who also holds the charge of Energy Department, held a review meeting in Mumbai. Speaking to reporters later, he said, “The state government has set the target of installing two lakh agri solar pumps in the coming months. While one lakh will be set up by the Ma harashtra Energy Development Authority (MEDA), the remaining ones will come from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSED CL).”

“We are also taking steps towards agri feeders to be converted to solar energy,” he said.

Maharashtra ATS chief Vineet Agarwal addresses media persons. —FILE PHOTO

BANNED

Uddhav Thackeray

Sena chief takes potshots at BJP, rebel faction led by CM Shinde

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis

—FILE PHOTO

Leader of Opposition in MLC Ambadas Danve —FILE PHOTO

Sena was on backfoot during MVA regime: Vijay Shivtare

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mumbai city President, Ashish Shelar, cleans the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

GUARDIAN MIN DESAI SLAMS MLC DANVE OVER HIS REBEL MLA JIBE

Palghar industrial blast: Police register accidental death case

WHAT HAPPENED

Govt official, prof among 4 detained for seeking bribe

The ACB also recovered `3,15,000 cash from the accused, which they had collected from 11 students

First India Bureau

Palghar: Police have registered a case of ac cidental death after three workers were killed and eight others injured in an explo sion at an industrial unit in the state’s Pal ghar district, officials said on Thursday.

State Public Works De partment (PWD) Minis ter Ravindra Chavan, who is also the guardian minister of Palghar, vis ited the unit after the incident on Wednesday.

He directed local author ities to conduct a safety training of people work ing in the industries in the district.

He said all industries should strictly follow the

CRUCIAL READ

TRUCK OVERTURNS IN PUNE; ONE DEAD, THREE INJURED

Pune: One person was killed and three others were injured after a multi-axle cement mixture truck rammed into a tree and fell on some parked rickshaws in the Hadaspur area of Pune on Thursday at around 5.30am, informed personnel deployed at the Hadaspur Police Station.

“The truck was trying to dodge a moped when the driver lost control and rammed into a tree. The truck overturned and fell on two to three autorickshaws.

While one rickshaw driver died, three others sustained injuries,” he said.

ONE WOMAN, MINOR GIRL RESCUED FROM FLESH TRADE

Thane: The Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) of Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar rescued a minor girl and a woman from the flesh trade on Tuesday. They sent a decoy customer to a restaurant where a woman brought two victims, who were forced into prostitution, senior police inspector Aviraj Kurhade said. The woman who brought the victims was arrested and a case under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he said. The rescued victims have been sent to a rehabilitation center.

KERALITE HELD WITH GOLD WORTH `19L AT MUMBAI AIRPORT

Mumbai: A passenger who landed at Mumbai airport from Dubai was arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Customs Act after he was found possessing as much as 370 grams of gold, said a custom official on Wednesday. The official further informed that the man, who was a native of Kerela had hidden the gold inside chocolate wrappers to avoid detection at the airport. The amount of gold recovered from the man after a thorough search was worth around Rs18.80 lakh.

safety norms and regula tions and to ensure such incidents do not recur.

Three workers were killed and eight others received severe burns on Wednesday after noon when a hydrogen gas cylinder exploded and triggered a fire in an electrical equipment manufacturing compa ny located in Chandar pada area of Vasai town.

One of the injured persons was critical, said an official from Val iv police station in Vasai.

The police have as of now registered a case of

accidental death and are conducting a probe into the incident, he added.

The deceased, who were charred beyond recognition, were later identified as Ajay Badra (27), Sandeep Mishra (25), and Ashwin Patel (28), confirmed an offi cial. When the incident took place around 2.30pm, there were 40 to 50 employees in the fac tory. After hearing the loud sound of an explo sion, they started rush ing out of the premises, he said.

Chavan visited the

explosion site and the hospital where the in jured workers were be ing treated.

Talking to reporters, he said it was suspected that the cylinder ex ploded during repair work and a police probe team was verifying it. He underlined the need for ample work force to avoid technical mistakes which cause such incidents.

New and contractual workers should also be given safety training like the permanent em ployees, he said.

In addition to the com pensation being given by the company manage ment to the families of the deceased, the govern ment will also try to give them some financial aid, said the minister. He also assured all possible help from the government to the injured persons.

Thane: The AntiCorruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednes day detained a sen ior official of the Maharashtra gov ernment’s Directo rate of Technical Education, a woman professor and two others for taking bribe to facilitate admission of a stu dent in an architec ture college in Thane district, offi cials said.

The ACB also re covered Rs3,15,000 cash from those de tained, which they had collected from 11 students, including the complainant, they said.

Those detained were identified as Ji tendra Ramdasji

Nikhade (54) Assis tant Director of the Technical and Joint Director Divisional Officer at Bandra; Rupali Hitendra Gupte (50), professor at KL Tiwari College of Architecture locat ed at Mira Bhayandar; Santosh Rangrai Hubale, (45), office su perintendent of the college and Shreya Santosh Bane (46), senior clerk.

The complainant’s daughter wanted to get admission in KL Tiwari College for which the principal of the college de manded Rs30,000, the ACB said.

Prof Gupte asked the complainant to hand over the money to the office superin tendent and when the complainant met

Hubale, he made a de mand of Rs30,000 to be given to the Joint Director of Technical Education, it said.

After that, the com plainant approached the Thane unit of the ACB. Based on the complaint, the antigraft agency laid a trap on Wednesday and caught Bane ac cepting Rs15,000 from the complainant on behalf of the superin tendent and the pro fessor, it said.

Deputy Superinten dent of Police (Thane ACB) Ashwini Patil informed that the pro cess of registering an offence against the four at the Mira Road police station under the Mira BhayandarVasai Virar police commissionerate was underway.

Bolivian woman held with black cocaine worth `13 crore at Mumbai int’l airport

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Narcot ics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized 3.2 kg of black cocaine worth Rs13 crore from a Bo livian woman at the Mumbai international airport, an official said on Thursday.

After the woman was caught with the contra band brought from Bra zil on Monday, the NCB also nabbed a Nigerian national, who was to sup ply the drug in different states, from Goa in fol low-up action.

“The operation in this connection was on for three days. The Bolivian woman was travelling from Brazil to Goa with layovers at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Mum bai,” the official said.

The woman was held as she was about to board a flight for Goa from

Mumbai. During a search, NCB officials seized the contraband from her, he said.

Black cocaine is co caine base mixed with other substances to turn it black in colour, which makes it easier to smug gle as it can be disguised as asphalt or metal moulds. Drug seizures at the Mumbai internation al airport have become a regular feature. In Au gust, officials had confis cated 500gm cocaine worth Rs5 crore from a female passenger.

YOUR CORPORATOR

Citizens’ group makes app with corporators’ performance cards

First India Bureau

Mumbai: A citizens’ group in Mumbai has prepared report cards of corporators that can be assessed as a mobile phone app in the run up to the upcoming civic polls in the metropolis.

It has the perfor mance report of 56 cor porators of the Brihan mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and efforts are on to get the assessment of more elected representatives included with public participation, Anand Bhandare, coordinator of ‘Nagarikayan Re

search Centre’ in formed on Thursday.

“We have launched the ‘My Corporator’ (Majha Nagarsevek) app. The report cards were prepared under the ‘My Ward, My Cor porator’ project that began in 2016. I have been working on this app for six years,” he said.

The app is available in Marathi and English on the Android plat form and citizens can download it from Goog le Playstore, while ef forts are on to make it compatible with the iOS platform as well, he added.

“We are looking at increasing public par ticipation in the project by conducting work shops in various civic wards, reaching out through Facebook and other social media plat forms,” said Bhandare.

He further added, “I prepared a report card of corporators of my area using Right to In formation Act. I then prepared a RTI form for others to make reports. I guide those who want to prepare such reports

of corporators to en lighten people.”

Information ob tained through RTI is verified by site visits, photographs etc by a network of volunteers, he said, adding the work of elected and nominated corporators as well as independent experts on various civic committees is evaluated.

Corporators with 70% attendance will have a green colour code in their perfor mance report. It will be blue for those in the 40% to 70% bracket and grey for those with less than 40% attendance.

First India Bureau

Three people died, 8 were injured in an industrial unit explosion on Wednesday afternoon. —FILE PHOTO

Public Works Dept minister stresses on safety training of workforce, adherence to regulations to prevent such incidents

Thane: Navi Mumbai Police Com missioner Bipin Kumar Singh has asked officials to keep a watch on closed factories in town to check narcotics are not manufactured there. The move comes in the wake of a number of cases of drug seizures in neighbouring Mumbai in the recent past. He also said a large stock of banned drug MD was recently seized in Mumbai.

‘INSPECT CLOSED FACTORIES IN NAVI MUMBAI FOR DRUG MENACE’

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has opposed a discharge application filed by Kshitij Prasad, former executive producer at Dharmatic Entertainment, claiming that he was part of a ‘chain of drug dealers’. Prasad, who then worked for the firm owned by filmmaker Karan Johar, was arrested in September 2020 for alleged involve ment in a drug trafficking case related to Bolly wood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. He later got bail. In a plea moved through advocate Nikhil Maneshinde, he sought discharge from the case, stating that he was innocent and there was no evidence against him.

NCB OPPOSES DISCHARGE PLEA OF DHARMATIC ENT FORMER STAFFER

THEATRICAL DEMEANOUR

A street artiste plies his trade dressed in costume in Mumbai on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY ANI

After Batting Dominance over Aussies, Bowlers Shine in First Win over Proteas!

After a narrow series win against the Aussies, India began with a dominant victory in the first encoun ter against the Proteas. While Indian batting flourished through the matches against Austral ia, experts felt that Indian bowling was a major chink in the armour with the T20 World Cup just a month away.

After the Asia Cup deba cle, fans hoped that the return of Jasprit Bumrah would turn the tide and as he hit peak form, he would help other bowlers to find their best rhythm. On Wednesday evening in Thiruvanathpuram, how ever, it was young left arm seamer Arshdeep Singh who pegged the Proteas back with 3 quick wickets in his very first over which left South African batting in tatters. Eventually, the Proteas could set just a modest challenge of 107 runs which the Men in Blue knocked off with comfort. India won the match with 18 balls and 8 wickets in hand and that too without their super star pacer - Bumrah!

Besides the Bumrah uncertainty, the Indian squad is looking settled and there are no major problem areas. Axar has filled in Jadeja’s shoes quite well and Karthik has cemented his place in the eleven as a finisher. The batting unit is now firing like a well-oiled machine with King Kohli also back in form. The remaining matches with the Proteas could be used to give more game time to the World Cup squad as India look to iron out all flaws before the big event!

Indian bowling came under heavy scrutiny after India’s shockingly early exit in the Asia Cup. Even in the series with Austral ia, Indian fast bowling was quite ordinary. Team India suffered a setback before the first game with the South Africans as Bumrah was injured and needed rest. Skipper Rohit Shar ma still chose to bowl at the Greenfield Stadium, which was hosting an in ternational match after a gap of 3 years. But a stun ning display of swing bowling by Arshdeep and Deepak Chahar rocked the Proteas who crumbled badly, losing 5 wickets for 9 runs in just 3 overs.

Besides Arshdeep and Chahar’s brilliant spells, Ravi Ashwin was extreme ly economical giving just 8 runs in his 4 overs. Though he couldn’t pick up a wick et, the wily offie tied the

BOWLERS ENSURED THAT INDIAN BATTING GETS EASY TARGET TO CHASE While the bowlers en sured that the Indian batting had an easy target to chase, South Africa sent jitters in the Indian dress ing room by dismissing Rohit and Virat cheaply and the score was just 17 runs after 6 overs. India’s new sensation -Suryakumar Yadav- now stepped to the crease and hit 2 sixes of his first 3 balls to calm Indian nerves. India could afford to play slowly with no runrate pressure and KL Rahul did just that as he picked momentum taking cue from Suryakumar’s book.

Proteas batting down which led to wickets at the other end. Harshal Patel who struggled in the se ries against Australia, was back in form and took 2 wickets at an economy of under 7.

A brief resistance from Wayne Parnell and Keshav Maharaj ensured that South Africa were not bowled out and managed to reach a modest total of 106 for 8. But it was Axar Patel who broke their

growing partnership when he got Parnell caught at deep midwicket region. Patel has been in amazing form and was the Player of the Series against the Aussies. He carried the form against the Proteas and conceded just 16 runs in his tight spell of 4 overs and even picked up a wicket.

While the bowlers en sured that the Indian bat ting had an easy target to chase, South Africa sent

jitters in the Indian dress ing room by dismissing Rohit and Virat cheaply and the score was just 17 runs after 6 overs. India’s new sensation -Suryaku mar Yadav- now stepped to the crease and hit 2 sixes of his first 3 balls to calm Indian nerves. India could afford to play slowly with no run-rate pressure and KL Rahul did just that as he picked momentum tak ing cue from Suryaku mar’s book. Both of them

A MECHANISM TO APPOINT JUDGES

Every time the Supreme Court Collegiums rec ommends a name for eleva tion there are guesses as to what may have gone in in fluencing the Collegium’s choice. When the govern ment sends a name back for reconsideration also leaves the common man wondering as to the pa rameters which determine if a certain judge deserves to be elevated to the Su preme Court. Is it the length of a judge’s stint in a high court which is con sidered, or it is investiga tive agencies’ reports on his integrity? Political leanings may not be offi

cially acknowledged as a criterion but unofficially it is also thought to carry weight. When a high court judge gets pulled up by the Supreme Court for the lan guage of his judgments,

not once but thrice, one can assume that his eleva tion won’t be easy.

The Supreme Court is now learnt to be evolving a mechanism for an objec tive process for elevation.

The Supreme Court is now learnt to be evolving a mechanism for an objective process for elevation

Reports said that the CJI, Justice UU Lalit, plans to go through past judicial performances of judges before recommending them for appointment as a judge of the apex court

Reports said that the Chief Justice of India, Justice UU Lalit, plans to go through past judicial per formances of judges be fore recommending them for appointment as a judge

of the apex court. The Col legium is learnt to be col lecting information about those in line for elevation.

The criteria for recom mending names include “number of judgments de livered, their quality and rates of disposal”. For high courts a lawyer’s per formance, his income and number of reported judg ments will form the basis for his/her appointment as judge.

Once the above mecha nism is formalised the Col legium’s recommenda tions should ideally face no criticism or hurdles from the Union law ministry ex cept if it is about a candi date’s background.

INDIA BEGAN WITH A DOMINANT VICTORY IN THE FIRST ENCOUNTER AGAINST THE PROTEAS. WHILE INDIAN BATTING FLOURISHED THROUGH THE MATCHES AGAINST AUSTRALIA, EXPERTS FELT THAT INDIAN BOWLING WAS A MAJOR CHINK IN THE ARMOUR WITH THE T20 WORLD CUP JUST A MONTH AWAY

ensured that there were no more hiccups and as they reached their respective fifties, India sailed through to a comfortable win.

All matches of Aussie series were high-scoring thrillers. In contrast, the game with the Proteas was a low scoring but absorb ing contest on a sticky wicket. Suryakumar was simply superb even on a tough surface where all other batters struggled. He now has the highest num

ber of runs in a calendar year and has risen to No2 in T20 Batting rankings. He is India’s standout bat ter in the shortest format this year and the team, fans and experts all expect big things from him at the World Cup!

At the end of Australia series there were many unanswered questions about Indian bowling. Now, in case Bumrah is ruled out of the World Cup, India will need an in cisive fast bowler and Mo hammad Shami could well get the nod. He was in fine form during the IPL and could lead the bowling at tack in Bumrah’s absence.

Besides the Bumrah un certainty, the Indian squad is looking settled and there are no major problem are as. Axar has filled in Jade ja’s shoes quite well and Karthik has cemented his place in the eleven as a fin isher. The batting unit is now firing like a well-oiled machine with King Kohli also back in form. The re maining matches with the Proteas could be used to give more game time to the World Cup squad as India look to iron out all flaws before the big event!

SPIRITUAL SPEAK

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? Bible

Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp 6 years ago PM Shri @narendramodi One decision of Ji changed the mood of India forever. When the Indian Army entered the terrorists’ home, Pakistan, did #SurgicalStrikes and told the world that this #New India will never compromise on its security and sovereignty.

Jagat Prakash Nadda @JPNadda Today, the fourth day of Shardiya Navratri, is the day of worship of Mother Kushmanda, I pray that the mother of the world blesses everyone. May the blessings of the mother who bestows life, fame, strength and health be with everyone.

TOP TWEETS

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

SIDDHAARTH

MAHAN

The writer is a specialist on Sports and Cinema who works as an actor in the Hindi film industry

Need for UNSC reform cannot be denied forever: Jaishankar

Washington (PTI):

The need to reform the UN Security Council cannot be denied forev er, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said even as he not ed that India never be lieved that revamping the top organ of the world body will be an easy process.

India has been at the forefront of the yearslong efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly de served a place as a per manent member in the United Nations.

Currently, the UN Se curity Council has five permanent members -China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. Only a permanent member has the power to veto any substantive resolu tion. India, currently a non-permanent member of the 15-nation UN Se curity Council, will com plete its two-year tenure in December this year.

IN THE COURTYARD

SC BENCH TO HEAR IN JAN PLEA AGAINST WHATSAPP’S POLICY TO SHARE USERS’ DATA

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would take up on January 17, 2023 a plea by 2 students contending that WhatsApp’s policy to share users’ data with parent company Facebook and others is a violation of their privacy and free speech. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph asked the parties to complete pleadings by December 15. “We are inclined to adjourn the matter to January 17, 2023 for final hearing,” the bench said.

NIA OPPOSES PLEA OF J&K WOMAN SEPARATIST

New Delhi: The NIA has opposed in the Delhi High Court the plea of a Kashmiri woman separatist leader challenging the attachment of her mother-in-law’s house, saying the property was utilised for “terror activities” and even for celebrating “Pakistan Day.”

The NIA claimed that the attached house was used as the office of proscribed terrorist organisation.

LUMPY: DELHI GOVT, MCD TO REPLY OVER PIL TO SAVE COWS

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Delhi govt and Municipal Corporation of Delhi on a PIL seeking direction from concerned authorities to take immediate remedial steps to eliminate contagious viral disease known as ‘Lumpy Skin Disease’. The Bench directed the respondents to file a reply within a period of 10 days and listed the matter for 14th October.

5 SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS RI IN VYAPAM SCAM

Bhopal: A CBI court here on Thursday convited five people and sentenced them to seven years rigorous imprisonment in connection with the Vyapam scam. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each, while their two co-accused were acquitted due to lack of solid evidence. These people were involved in scam in police constable exams held in 2013.

MYANMAR DEPOSED LEADER SAN SUU KYI GETS 3 YRS JAIL

Naypyidaw: A military court in Myanmar on Thursday sentenced country’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her team to three years in jail. Kyi’s team included Australian economist Sean Turnell who was imprisoned for violating the Official Secrets Act. The latest verdict delivered at a special court means that Kyi has been sentenced to over 20 years in prison so far in a dozen cases.

Rajnath Singh visits forward areas of 3 Corps in Arunachal

Washington: EAM S Jais hankar has said that India will continue to maintain a relationship with China that is based on “mutual” sensitivity, respect and interest. He said while responding to a query on consistent comments from Beijing about how things are “okay” between the two countries. “The phase of emergency response since the Gal wan Valley incident has basically come to an end, and the border situa tion is now switching to normalized management and control,” China’s Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong has said. “What I have said, to my mind represents accurate policy assessment of where the state of our relations is. We continue to strive for a relationship with China, but one that is built on mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual inter est,” Jaishankar said.

L Adimoolam is new director on PTI Board

New Delhi (PTI): KN Shanth Kumar was reelected as the vice-chair man and L. Adimool am was ap pointed a di rector of the Press Trust of India’s Board of Direc tors at its Annual Gen eral Meeting on Thurs day. Shanth Kumar, who is the vice-chairman of The Printers (Mysore) Pvt Ltd, was elected for a second one-year term.

Twitter handles of PFI, its leaders taken down

New Delhi (Agencies):

A day after the Union Home Ministry banned the Popular Front of In dia (PFI) for five years, Twitter on Thursday took down its profile, along with those of its leaders. Facebook and Instagram, too, withheld the PFI official accounts.

On Twitter, where the PFI had over 80,000 fol lowers, it showed that the account had been with held in India following a legal demand. A similar notice was seen on the ac counts of its chairperson OMA Salam and general secretary Anis Ahmed.

On Wednesday, after invoking the UAPA Act to effect the ban, the MHA said that the PFI and its affiliates are linked to terror groups like the ISIS, propagate “anti-national senti ments… radicalise a particular section of so ciety with the intention to create disaffection” and constitute a “major threat to internal secu rity of the country”.

BANNED GROUP PFI KEPT CLOSE TIES WITH RADICAL TURKEY GROUP: REPORT

New Delhi: The banned PFI has been maintaining close ties with a radical Turkish group accused of supplying arms to Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists in Syria and even two PFI leaders were hosted by the terror group, officials said on Thursday. The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, commonly known as IHH, projects itself as a Turkish human rights organisation.

KERALA HIGH COURT DIRECTS PFI TO PAY `5.20 CRORE AS DAMAGES

Kochi: The Kerala high court on Thursday directed the PFI to pay in two weeks ₹5.20 crore as damages estimated to have been caused during the bandh it called against raids on the premises of the group and people associated with it last week. The bandh was called days before the Centre on Wednesday outlawed the group and its affiliates for five years after a crackdown across several states.

ROBOTIC SURGERY

First India Bureau

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday reviewed operational prepared ness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during his two-day visit to the country’s eastern most Army formations.

He said, “strengthen ing India’s military prowess has been the Government’s top prior ity ever since it came to power since 2014, with a focus on equipping the Services with state-ofthe-art weapons/equip ment through an ‘Aat manirbhar’ defence in dustry.” On Thursday, he interacted with Army jawans at Dibang valley in Arunachal

Pradesh and joined Army personnel at Bada Khana at Solmara Mili tary Station in Tezpur.

Singh termed the Armed Forces as the very reason behind the strength and confidence of the Nation.

He appreciated the fact that the Govern ment’s efforts have re sulted in making a strong military which is fully capable of pro tecting the Nation from all kinds of threats.

Singh lauded the Armed Forces for in stilling a sense of na tional pride and patriot ism among the people, especially the youth, by displaying their strength and courage from time to time.

BANKING ON OUTSIDERS?

India plays important role as frontline state in fight against terrorism: Murmu

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said India’s leadership in several fields has become un challenged now and the country plays an impor tant role as a frontline state in the fight against terrorism. Addressing a group of officer trainees of the Indian Foreign Service (2021 batch), who had called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, she said that India’s strong position is based on its economic performance, among other factors.

Congress pitches its hopes on non-Congress leaders

Sharat K Verma

New Delhi: The Con gress will certainly have a role to play in Opposi tion unity. Therefore

Jairam Ramesh need not say again and again that without Congress there will be no Opposi tion unity or after Bharat Jodo Yatra Con gress will become so strong that no one will be able to ignore it. These things are have no standing because re gional parties have no conflict with the Con

gress in most states. Where there is conflict, however strong the Con gress becomes, coordi nation will be difficult. So, when the time comes, the unity of the Opposition will be forged and Congress will also have a role in it. Congress will get the biggest help in this work from the leaders of Bi har. Lalu Prasad and Ni tish Kumar will be the most helpful for the Con gress in this work.

Lalu Prasad and Nit ish Kumar had met So

nia Gandhi last Sunday. Before that, Nitish’s deputy and Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav (Bi

har’s deputy CM) had met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. Nitish Kumar was in Delhi for several

days and met Opposi tion leaders but then Sonia Gandhi was abroad. That’s why Nit ish Kumar could not meet Sonia Gandhi. However, the recent meeting of Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar with Sonia Gandhi it would not make any differ ence. Both these leaders will make room for the Congress in the Opposi tion alliance. In Bihar and Jharkhand, although the Congress is part of the alliance, Lalu and

Nitish will make such an effort in other states as well. Both of them can play a role in getting the Congress included in the socialist camp. The most interesting case is of Ut tar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Haryana.

With Akhilesh Yadav, HD Kumaraswamy, K Chandrasekhar Rao and Omprakash Chautala, Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar can do the work of building the harmony of the Congress. This will have a big impact on the electoral prospects.

New Delhi (ANI): The Department of Youth Af fairs of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will launch a month-long nationwide Clean India 2.0 from October 1 to 31, after the successful cam paign of last year.

The programme is being organised in all the villages across the country through the network of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), affiliated Youth Clubs and Na tional Service Scheme Affiliated Institutions.

Briefing media persons

New tech nologies give us hopes of better healthcare, for example, but they threaten existing business practices too. We can use tech nology to reach out to those on the margins. At the same time, technology also resets the security paradigm with new threats. As a nation, we have before us a chance to reset our choices.

in New Delhi, Secretary, Youth Affairs Sanjay Kumar said that Union Minister Anurag Sin gh Thakur will launch the Clean India 2.0 from October 1 with an aim to clean waste, mainly single-use plastic and create awareness.

“WE STRIVE FOR A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA BUT...”, SAYS EAM

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a business luncheon with US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Board members.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Dr S Jaishankar @DrSJaishankar

An extensive discussion on pressing global challenges with UN Secretary General @antonioguterres. Agenda included the Ukraine conflict, UN reform, G20, climate action, food security and data for development.

Security personnel deployed outside a sealed office of Popular Front of India, in Bhopal. The Union govt banned the PFI and many of its associates for 5 years under a stringent anti-terror law.

Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav leave after meeting with Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi last week.

President Droupadi Murmu being greeted by officer trainees of Indian Foreign Service of 2021 batch, during a meeting, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Rajnath Singh meets troops during his visit to Anini village, in Dibang valley, Arunachal Pradesh, on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with Union MoS for Civil Aviation VK Singh (L) and others during a robotic surgery convention, in Ghaziabad, on Thursday. —PHOTO BY PTI

MUMBAI | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 05INDIA www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia —Droupadi Murmu

Rahul's posters, flexes torn in K’taka before Bharat Jodo Yatra

Chamarajanagar:

(ANI): Ahead of Bharat Jodo Yatra entering Karnataka, welcome flexes bearing pictures of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi were seen van dalized in the Gundlu pet town in the Chamarajanagar dis trict of the state on Thursday.

The flexes were in stalled by Congress to welcome Rahul Gandhi, who is scheduled to ar rive at Gundlupet on September 30. Other flexes, that were put on the Highway passing through Gundlupet having pictures of dif ferent Congress Party leaders were also torn, according to reports.

More than 40 flexes were reported to be torn. The Congress lead ers have accused Bhar tiya Janta Party’s work ers of this ‘mischief’.

Previously, senior BJP leaders seem to be targetting Congress Par ty’s Bharat Jodo Yatra elsewhere. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra earli er said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra of the party

has turned into a Leave Congress Project. “The Bharta Jodo Yatra has become Congress Chodo Yatra (Quit Congress Yatra). Ghulam Nabi Azad Ji’s resignation from Congress shows that now there is an at mosphere of panic in the party,” said Mishra in a video he tweeted.

Rahul Gandhi is cur rently leading Bharat Jodo Yatra, a national campaign of the party

❍ PROPHET ESSAY CASE

Karnataka school headmaster suspended

Gadag (ANI): Karna taka school headmas ter- alleged of trying to facilitate the religious conversion- has been suspended, a day after the state education de partment ordered an inquiry after the head master was heckled by right-wing outfit activ ists for organizing an essay competition on Prophet Mohammed for children of a govern

in a few decades. The 3,500-km march from Kanyakumari to Kash mir will be completed in 150 days and cover as many as 12 states. From Kerala, the Yatra will traverse through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north. The Padyatra (march) will cover a distance of 25 km every day.

CONGRESS LEADER KC VENUGOPAL MEETS

SONIA GANDHI AGAIN New Delhi: Congress leader KC Venugopal on Thursday arrived at 10 Janpath to meet Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in the national capital. He had previously met Gandhi on Monday to discuss the political turmoil in Rajasthan.

Venugopal’s meeting with Gandhi came a day before the final date for filing nominations for the top post in the Congress party.

‘FRIENDLY CONTEST AND NOT BATTLE BETWEEN RIVALS’

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who is likely to file his nomination for the Congress president’s post on Friday, met Shashi Tharoor, who said they agreed that theirs is “not a battle between rivals but a friendly contest” among colleagues. Singh met the party MP from Thiruvanan thapuram on Thursday after collecting nomination papers for the polls.

Rahul takes knee problem lightly: says “somebody is pulling me out of trouble”

Malappuram (PTI): Con gress leader Rahul Gandhi, who concluded his Kerala leg of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ has said he was ex periencing knee problems during the foot march, but he was distracted from the pain when members of the public approached him and discussed various issues as the journey pro gressed.Gandhi revealed this during his candid con versation with Congress leaders of the southern state on Wednesday in Wandoor. The video of the conversation was released by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.“I am having knee problem

while I am walking. When I am walking, sometimes I am getting quite bad pain. And I have noticed whenever I am finding that difficulty, somebody is coming doing something or telling me something that is removing the dif ficulty,” Gandhi said.

‘BJD govt failed to fulfil people’s aspirations’

Bhubaneswar (PTI):

The BJD government in Odisha has failed to ful fil the aspirations of the people, BJP president JP Nadda said on Thursday, calling upon the voters to oust it.

Addressing a rally here, Nadda alleged that there is corruption in different spheres of the government in the state.

“The protector is kill er in Odisha as at least three ministers were al legedly involved in the different murder cas es,” he said.

“There is corruption in the implementation of PMAY, MGNREGA and other schemes,” he alleged. Alleging mis rule under the BJD re gime, Nadda claimed that people here have to take their relatives to hospital on bicycles. Na dda said that it is unfor tunate for a democracy like India that most of the national parties have been reduced to re gional parties.

BJP is the only na tional party and has re gional aspirations, he claimed. “It is unfortu nate that all the nation al parties have been re duced to regional par

‘AAP assign `700 cr for fake publicity’

Sukhbir Badal urges PM to commute death sentence of Rajoana to life term

First India Bureau

ment school in Gadag district. Abdul Muna far Bijapur , the head master had organized an essay competition.

Ludhiana: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) presi dent Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday said even as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) govern ment had allocated Rs 700 crore for fake pub licity, farmers and the disadvantaged sections of society were suffer ing with crop damage compensation and di rect seeding incentive

Mukesh Ambani’s security cover upgraded to ‘Z plus’ by MHA

Mumbai: The Home Ministry has increased the security cover of Mukesh Ambani, as per sources. The security cover was ramped up to ‘Z +’ category based on the intelligence agency’s threat perception report, sources added. He will pay for this security by himself Mukesh Amba ni, Chairman and MD of RIL, was earlier accorded ‘Z category’ security.

STILL A SUSPENSE

not being given to farmers even as the ‘aata-daal’ scheme had

been closed.

Asserting the chief minister was drunk on

‘BJP using poll panel to reduce votes of Yadavs’

New Delhi (ANI): Sa majwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav al leged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the help of the c “snatched” away the power in Uttar Pradesh from Samajwadi Party because they are aware that without UP, they cannot remain in power at the Centre.

Elaborating further he accused the Election

power, Sukhbir Badal said “Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has al located an unprece dented 42 vehicles for his own cavalcade and enforces a virtual cur few at every place he visits. All promises made to the people have been forgotten with the entire government functioning to the whims and fancies of AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal”.

DGCI allows institute to export malaria vaccine to UK

NADDA ON TWO-DAY VISIT TO ODISHA Bhubaneswar (PTI): BJP president JP Nadda arrived on a two-day visit to Odisha on Thursday. BJP’s state president Samir Mohanty, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi were among the leaders who welcomed him at the airport here. A cultural performance was also held at the airport in his honour. Nadda, who is on a maiden trip to Odisha as the BJP president, went straight to the party’s state headquarters, in a massive bike rally. He is scheduled to address around 25,000 panchayat-level leaders at Janata Maidan. He will also hold a meeting over the political situa tion in the state with MLAs, MPs and other leaders.

ties. The BJP being the world’s largest political party now fights against the family-based par ties in different states,” he said. “The Indian National Congress is neither national nor In dian. It is now the ‘BhaiBehen’ (brother-sister) party,” he quipped. Na dda said that the Con

gress’s situation is such that its candidates lost deposits in most assem bly seats of Uttar Pradesh.

“In Odisha, obviously, Biju Patnaik’s family is ruling the roost,” Nadda said, maintaining that the Shiv Sena in Maha rastra is now getting free of “family raj”.

TWO BLASTS HIT JAMMU AND KASHMIR WITHIN HOURS

Udhampur/Jammu: A blast in a bus parked at a stand in Jammu and Kashmir‘s Udhampurcity on Thursday morning, the second within a few hours, sent security agencies in a tizzy as they sounded a high alert, sources said. The roof and the backside of the bus were blown away by the blast that occurred around 5.30 am but no one was injured, they said. —PTI

Will not...

The one and a half hour meeting between Sonia and Gehlot also saw par ticipation of General secretary (Organization)

Commission of deliber ately reducing the votes of ‘Muslim’ and ‘Yadav’ communities by 20,000 in almost every Vidhan sabha seat on the diktats of BJP and its aides.

WILL SATPAL MALIK JOIN RLD?

Mahesh Sharma

New Delhi: Meghalaya

Governor Satpal Malik will retire on 30 Septem ber. Even before retir ing, he has opened a front against the cen tral government and the BJP as he has been making allegations of one kind or the other all the time. He raised the issue of farmers as gov ernor and put the cen tral government in the dock. He had raised the issue of alleged corrup

tion while being the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. After his removal, he will also be investigated and on this pretext also he will have a direct confrontation with the BJP. It is being said that after retiring from the post of Gover nor, he can join Jayant Chaudhary’s party Rashtriya Lok Dal.

Even before joining the Rashtriya Lok Dal, he had started creating an atmosphere in favor of the party. Jayant

Choudhary also needs a leader who has a fight ing image and the media pays attention to. Satpal

Malik is perfect in this respect. His words are featured prominently in the media. However,

what will be the situa tion after the removal of the governor’s post can not be said. But since he is the governor made by the NDA government and has lived in many states, people are inter ested in what he has to say. He can also play a role in uniting the Jats and the farmers, but it remains to be seen how the Jat leaders who are already in RLD accept this move i.e. whether they welcome him to the party or not.

New Delhi (PTI): In dia’s drug regulator has allowed the export of the first produced-inIndia vaccine against malaria, developed by scientists at the Univer sity of Oxford and man ufactured by Serum In stitute to the U.K., offi cial sources said on Thursday.

The move comes after an application was sub mitted by Prakash Ku mar Singh, director, Government and Regu latory Affairs, at Serum Institute of India (SII) to DCGI on September 27 seeking permission to export the vaccine against malaria, offi cial sources told PTI.

“SII has developed the vaccine against ma laria under leadership of our CEO Dr Adar C Poonawalla. We have been relentlessly work ing to make available made-in-India and world-class vaccines against malaria to our country and world at large,” an official source quoted Singh as having said in the ap plication.

KC Venugopal and after the meeting, Gehlot ap peared to be in a happy mood. Meanwhile, fur ther in his address to the media persons, Gehlot said that he won’t con test the elections in this atmosphere. “I won’t contest these elections in this atmosphere, with moral responsibility. For fifty years, I have been a loyal soldier of the par ty,” Gehlot said. On being asked if he will remain Rajasthan CM, Gehlot said, “I won’t decide that, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will decide that.”

“One-line resolution is our tradition. Unfortu nately, a situation arose that resolution wasn’t passed. It was my moral responsibility (to pass the resolution), but de spite being a CM I couldn’t get it passed,” he added. Talking to re porters, Gehlot said the party works under the Congress president and decisions will be taken in the time to come. He said Congress workers worry about the direc tion in which the coun try is heading and tack

NIA TEAM SENT TO UDHAMPUR, TO TAKE OVER BLAST CASE

Srinagar: The Udhampur blast case in which two persons suffered injuries, is likely to be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday. Highly placed sources said that a team of elite NIA officials has been sent to J&K’s Udham pur. The team is likely to take charge of all the documents regarding the blast from the local police.

—Agencies

MUMBAI | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 06INDIA www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epapers/mumbai I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia Dussehra rally... should continue to flut ter. “Shiv Sena’s Dussehra rally, BKC, Bandra, Mumbai,” in formed another voiceover in the video that has images of Bal Thackeray, Shinde and his mentor Anand Dighe. The Shinde fac tion will hold its Dussehra rally at BKC on October 05, while the rally at Shivaji Park will be led by former state CM Uddhav Thackeray. The Uddhav Thackeray faction got the nod for the rally at the party’s traditional Shivaji Park venue after challenging the rejection of its ap plication by the BMC in the Bombay High Court.

CRUCIAL READ Maha announces... Rs3,600 crore to 30 lakh farmers, he informed. There were another six lakh affected farmers who did not fulfill the cri teria for aid as their re gions had not recorded 65 mm or more rainfall in 24 hours. They would be covered under the new package, he said. The affected area under cultivation for which this aid will be given is 5,49,646 hectares, said the deputy CM.

ling the issue was more important.

BJP national president JP Nadda addresses party workers during the ‘Karyakarta Sammelan’, in Bhubaneswar, on Thursday.

—PHOTO BY PTI

Sukhbir Singh Badal addressing media in Ludhiana on Thursday.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s flexes bearing were torn ahead of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kerala, on Thursday. —PHOTO BY ANI

Meghalaya Governor Satpal Malik

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD. TO TAKE ON ZARA AND MANGO UNDER ISHA AMBANI’S LEADERSHIP

On Thursday, the retail division of Mukesh Ambani’s Reli ance Industries Ltd. opened its first in-house premium fashion and

store as it works to increase its share of the luxury market. The first of a new chain of stores called Azorte, which was opened in Bengaluru, will compete with Zara and Industria de Diseno Textil SA-owned Mango and target millenials and Generation Z.

RELIANCE RETAIL LAUNCHES FASHION STORE ‘AZORTE’

India will be pillar of global economic revival: Goyal

Bengaluru: Reliance Re tail on Thursday launched a large format premium fashion and lifestyle store brand ‘AZORTE’. The new store format includes several tech-enabled in terventions such as smart trial rooms, fashion dis covery stations, “endless aisles” and self-checkout kiosks, it said in a state ment. “AZORTE will house the best of global trends and contemporary Indian fashion with an original take on style ranging from western and Indian wear to footwear, fashion accessories. —PTI

IPO MOP-UP PLUNGES

32 PER CENT TO `35,456 CRORE IN H1

Kolkata (Agencies): Un ion Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said India will be the pillar of the global economic revival as it exhibited steady growth and emerged as the fastestgrowing country among the large economies of the world.

He said if all stakehold ers of the economy work together with a sense of ‘Kartavya bhav’ (spirit of duty), the national goal of $30-trillion economy will be achieved by 2047, the year when the country will celebrate 100th anniversa ry of its independence.

TOP TALKING POINTS

Mumbai: Just 14 compa nies raised `35,456 crore through main-board pri mary share sales in the first half of the fiscal, down 32% from the yearago period when 25 is sues had mopped up `51,979 crore. But acc to Prime Database, the IPO pipeline is strong with 71 issues worth `1,05,000 crore having Sebi approv als and another 43 worth about `70,000 crore are awaiting approval. Of these 114 planned issues, 10 are new-age tech com panies.

—PTI

GOVT APPROVES

22ND TRANCHE OF ELECTORAL BONDS

“India is already the fifth largest economy in the world and is turbocharging its growth to become the third largest in the coming years. The PM’s vision is to make India a developed na tion by 2047 with an econo my size of $30 trillion as we will celebrate our 100th in dependence in that year,” Goyal, the commerce and industry minister, said.

All sectors such as agri culture, manufacturing and construction are doing quite well, he claimed.

“India is an island of sta bility and will be the pillar of global revival. Our econ omy has shown resilience

OTHER STORIES

z Union Minister Piyush Goyal said if all stakeholders of the economy work together with a sense of ‘Kartavya bhav’ (spirit of duty), the national goal of $30-trillion economy will be achieved by 2047

during the pandemic and is on a steady path of growth,” the minister said.

Asserting that India is the best destination for in vestments, Goyal said the government has taken sev eral structural reforms, and more are in the pipe line. The minister, who also holds food and textile port folios, urged industrialists for private investments

HOSPITALITY SECTOR DEMANDS CHANGE IN INFRA STATUS TO DRIVE GROWTH, BENEFIT MORE CITIES

New Delhi: Hotel Association of India (HAI) on Thursday demanded that the infrastructure status of the hospitality sector be amended to spur growth and help more cities benefit from it. The sector has recovered from the impact of the pan demic, driven by domestic travel with occupancy level in latest June quarter higher by 4% as compared to the pre-COVID level and average room rate up by 16%, HAI President Puneet Chhatwal said here at the Hoteliers’ Conclave 2022. “Amending the hospitality sector infrastructure status will incentivise and spur hospitality development which is the need of the hour,” he said. PTI

z Asserting that India is the best destination for investments, Goyal said the government has taken several structural reforms

z The minister urged Indian industrialists for private investments and asked them to believe in India’s growth story

and asked them to believe in India’s growth story and help the country in achiev ing its goals with greater participation.

Goyal cited McKinsey & Co CEO Bob Sternfels com ment - ‘it’s not India’s decade, it’s India’s cen tury’- to showcase the country as an impor tant destination for investment.

DON’T DEPEND ON SMALL INCENTIVES, SUBSIDIES; INCREASE COMPETITIVENESS: GOYAL TO INDUSTRY

New Delhi (PTI): Union Min Piyush Goyal on Thursday asked service exporters not to depend on small subsidies or incentives to increase exports and instead enhance competitiveness. He said the industry should work on increasing and strengthen ing their competitiveness to tap global markets. Ambitious targets of exports should not be affected by “small support subsidies and incentives. That has been the bone of contention between some services sectors and the government,” Goyal said. Citing examples, he said the IT sector never asks for any subsidy and they record healthy growth rate in exports. “How long will this mentality last that give us `2, we will be able to in crease exports...We need to look at our competitive edge.” Do not depend on the government, he said. On free trade agreements, the minister

India a ‘star’ among emerging mkts: S&P

New Delhi: Ahead of as sembly elections in Guja rat and Himachal Pradesh, the government on Thursday approved is suance of 22nd tranche of electoral bonds that will open for sale on October 1. Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alter native to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding. SBI, in the 22nd phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches from October 1-10, the finance ministry said in a statement. —PTI

MEESHO RECORDS

68% JUMP IN 5-DAY FESTIVE SEASON SALE

INDIA REMAINS BRIGHT SPOT FOR CAR SALES: MOODY’S INVESTOR

New Delhi: Robust car sales during the ongoing festive season will help the Indian auto mobile industry outshine its regional and global peers this year, Moody’s Investor Service said. “India remains the bright spot for car sales this year. So far in 2022, sales are steady and we expect a stronger fourth quarter with the onset of the festive season starting at the end of September,” as per a note prepared by Moody’s. PTI

UDAAN STARTS MULTIPLE DELIVERIES PER DAY FOR PHARMACIES IN 6 CITIES

New Delhi: Lightspeed Venture Partners-backed B2B e-commerce firm Udaan has started deliver ing stocks to pharmacies four times a day across six cities and plans to scale up the service to other places after six to eight months. The 4X4 delivery service’ has been rolled out after a pilot programme and receiving extensive feedback from pharmacies in select cit ies, which required enhanced delivery capabilities. PTI

PASSENGERS CAN AVAIL SOON

New Delhi: Softbankbacked e-commerce plat form Meesho claims to have recorded 68% jump in sales during its fiveday festive season sale with around 3.34 crore orders. The unicorn ecommerce firm said near ly 60% of all orders came from Tier 4 cities and transacting users wit nessed a 60% jump dur ing the sale, which in cluded those who were new-to-ecommerce and were shopping online for the first time.

—PTI

New Delhi (PTI): S&P Global Ratings on Thurs day said rising rates and increased European ener gy insecurity are hitting growth in almost every country, but India with an estimated 7.3% growth this fiscal, would be the ‘star’ among emerging market economies.

In a report, S&P said global macro performance over the next few quarters points towards growth slowdown with tightening financial conditions amid rate hikes by central banks.

“For the 16 emerging economies that we cover, excluding China, 2022 GDP growth will hit 5.2% this year, in our view. This fore cast is up 30 basis points from our previous round. India is the star of this group with growth of 7.3% this fiscal year (ending in March 2023),” S&P said.

The US-based agency said as central banks ag

Sensex takes losing run to 7th day, falls by 188 points

Mumbai (PTI): Bench mark indices failed to hold on to early gains and ended lower for the seventh straight session on Thurs day, with the BSE Sensex declining over 188 points amid mixed global market trends. Even after rallying in early trade, the 30-share BSE benchmark fell 188.32 points or 0.33% to settle at 56,409.96.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty dipped 40.50 points or 0.24% to end at 16,818.10. Among the 30-share Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Tech Mahin dra, Titan, Kotak Mahin dra Bank, TCS, Bajaj Fi nance, Wipro and Bajaj Finserv were among the major laggards.

ITC, Dr Reddy’s, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and Nestle were among the major winners.

AFTER RECORD LOW ON WED, ` RISES 13 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 81.80 AGAINST $

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled 13 paise higher at 81.80 against US dollar on Thursday, ahead of the RBI monetary policy decision. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 81.60 against the greenback. It witnessed an intra-day high of 81.58 and a low of 81.94 during the session.It finally ended at 81.80, up 13 paise from its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee plunged below the 82-mark for the first time in intraday trade before settling 40 paise down at 81.93 against the dollar.

Delhi Airport becomes 5G network-compliant

Mumbai (PTI): GMR group-run Delhi Airport on Thursday said it has made its facility compliant for 5G network, which the passengers can avail once these services are rolled out by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs).

Most airports at present provide wireless service primarily through Wi-Fi to passengers. Wi-Fi relies on the unlicensed spectrum which is free for anyone to use, as per the Delhi Inter national Airport Ltd.

With the rise in passen ger footfall, the airports have witnessed a rise in de

mand for more bandwidth and faster speed for using gadgets like smartphones and laptops, among others. Airlines and other airport stakeholders are also seek ing fast, seamless and se

PRESENT SCENARIO

z Most airports at present provide wireless service primarily through Wi-Fi to passengers. Wi-Fi relies on the unlicensed spectrum which is free for anyone to use, as per the Delhi International Airport Ltd

RESULTS OVER NEXT FEW QTRS

z S&P said global macro performance over the next few quarters points towards growth slowdown with tightening financial conditions. Most leading and sentiment indicators are pointing toward slower growth as well

gressively raise rates to fight inflation, our confi dence is waning that they can avoid generating a sharp downturn.“We are now expecting a mild reces sion in the US,” it said, add ing that rising rates, in creased European energy insecurity, and lingering effects of Covid-19 are hit ting growth everywhere.

“This may be the most anticipated economic slow down on record, but the data have yet to fully fall in line,” S&P said.

ICRA revises outlook on Indian airport infrastructure

Mumbai (PTI): Credit rat ings agency ICRA on Thursday revised the out look on Indian airport in frastructure to ‘Stable’ from ‘Negative’ amid ex pectations that passenger traffic will surpass prepandemic level between September this year to August next year.

It also estimates that do mestic passenger traffic will reach pre-COVID lev els by the March quarter (Q4FY23 vs Q4FY2020) this fiscal year, while the inter national traffic is expected to see full recovery in the second quarter of fiscal year starting April 2023.

The overall recovery in domestic traffic remained strong and is expected to recover to 97-98% of preCOVID levels in Financial Year (FY) 2023 itself, ICRA said.

Housing sales up 49% in July-Sept across 8 cities

New Delhi (PTI): Housing sales have risen 49% yearon-year to 83,220 units in the July-September period across eight major cities on pent up demand, despite rise in interest rates and property prices, according to PropTiger.Com.

cure connectivity for their essential technologies to meet the demand, DIAL said, adding with 5G net work passengers will be able to enjoy a 20 times fast er data speed.

Such a network would al low them quicker down loads, zero buffering dur ing streaming and seam less execution of resourceintensive applications, DIAL stated.

Sales stood at 55,910 units in the same quarter last year. The sales have surpassed the levels of 2019’s Q3, housing broker age firm PropTiger.Com said in its quarterly report Real Insight Residential — July-Sept 2022.

“The real estate industry

is bouncing back from the pandemic and subsequent disruptions,” said Vikas Wadhawan, Group CFO, PropTiger.Com, Housing. Com and Makaan.Com.

Despite the slight in crease in overall interest rates, he said the demand for housing has not dipped.

Leadership is not rank and privilege, it is actually a responsibility.

2ND FRONT

REBUILD RAZED CREMATORIUM FOR FISHERFOLKS, ORDERS HC

The Bombay High Court gives a month’s deadline to Mumbai suburban dist collector

First India Bureau

Mumbai: The Bom bay High Court on Thursday ordered the Mumbai suburban district collector to rebuild a demolished crematorium used by fisherfolk community within a month. The high court also or dered that the cost of rebuilding be recov ered from a petitioner who claimed it was constructed in viola tion of coastal regula tion zone rules.

A division bench comprising Chief Jus tice Dipankar Datta and Justice Madhav Jamdar had earlier held that the crematorium located on Erangal beach in subur ban Malad was demol ished by officials from the collector’s office without following due

process of law.

The bench on Thurs day dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Chetan Vyas raising concerns over unauthorized con struction of the Hindu crematorium on the beach by the fishermen community.

The PIL claimed the construction was in vio

lation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.

The court imposed a fine of Rs1 lakh on Vyas and ordered that the construction or repair of the crematorium be recovered from him.

“The Maharashtra government and the Mumbai suburban dis trict collector shall take

SC orders jailed activist Navlakha’s treatment

First India Bureau

New Delhi: The Su preme Court directed the Taloja jail super intendent on Thurs day to immediately transfer Gautam Navlakha, who is be ing held in connec tion with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, to Mumbai’s Ja slok hospital for treatment after the activist’s counsel re vealed that he has co lon cancer.

A bench, comprising of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy, also allowed Navlakha’s partner Sahba Husain and sister to visit him in the hospital, empha sizing that receiving medical treatment is a fundamental right.

“Having heard the counsel for parties, we are of the view that re ceiving medical treat ment would be a funda mental right. We direct the petitioner be taken immediately for thor ough medical checkup,” the court said.

The the bench fur ther added, “We direct superintendent of Talo ja jail to take the peti tioner to Jaslok hospi tal so that he is able to undergo requisite med ical check-up and re ceive treatment. We make it clear that the petitioner will remain in police custody.”

It also directed the hospital authorities to

submit a report to the SC about the check-up.

The 70-year-old activ ist has appealed the apex court against the April 26 order of the Bombay High Court dis missing his plea for house arrest over ap prehensions of lack of adequate medical and other basic facilities in Taloja jail near Mum bai where he is lodged.

steps for the reconstruc tion/repair of the cre matorium at the same site within one month.

The deputy collector shall oversee this and submit a compliance re port to this court on No vember 10,” said the bench.

It was demolished af ter a different bench of the high court ordered for a joint inspection to be carried out of the crematorium.

However, no hearing or show cause notice was issued to the fisher folk community that was using the cremato rium.

Collector Nidhi Chaudhari had earlier told the court that she was only following di rections from the Maha rashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA).

CREMATORIUM EXISTED BEFORE CRZ RULES WERE DRAFTED

According to a death register submitted by a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corpora tion (BMC) lawyer, the crematorium had been in existence prior to the CRZ no tification of 1991— which mandated MCZMA clearance for constructions in the CRZ area— coming into force.

The death register noted that there were two cremations conducted there on December 25, 1990, and February 16, 1991, and it proved that the crematorium was there before the notification.

WR suburban services to offer more from Oct

gaon.

Mumbai: As many as 12 conventional and 31 air-conditioned ser vices have been intro duced in the Western Railway’s (WR) re vised timetable, which will be effective from October 01.

Apart from these, 50 services have been ex tended for the benefit of the commuters in the new timetable, said a release coming from the WR.

Calling it a “festival bonanza for commut ers”, the WR release said

the number of suburban train services on the net work will increase from 1,375 to 1,383, including 112 services on Harbour Line, whose operation is helmed by Central Rail way but a segment runs from Mahim to Gore

Moustache helps clear body swap issue

First India Bureau Mumbai: The kin of two people with simi lar names and age ended up taking the wrong body for cre mation in Raigad dis trict before differenc es in moustaches of the deceased cleared the confusion.

While Ramakant Pa

village in Panvel tehsil succumbed to kidney and liver issues at the same facility.

til (62), a resident of Pezari village in Alibag tehsil, died of blood pressure and diabetes at MGM Hospital, Ram Patil (66) of Dahivali

IN REVERENCE

“Relatives of Rama kant Patil, just before cremation, realized that deceased’s moustache was different. The hos pital was contacted but the staffers there re fused to admit any goofup,” a kin said

The kin of Ram Patil too realized something was amiss and both groups reached MGM Hospital, whose admin istration arranged to swap the bodies.

Meanwhile, the hos pital management de fended itself in a state ment and said the kin had seen the bodies be fore accepting it

“The number of AC services will rise by 31 and will be totaling 79, while 15-coach services will increase from 79 to 106. Presently, out of 79 fifteen-coach services, 30 services do not run on Saturdays. But, in the new suburban timetable all 106 services will run on Saturdays,” the re lease informed.

The process to incor porate 93 additional 12-coach services will also be completed in a phased manner, men tioned the Western Rail ways press release.

JUSTICE DELAYED

14 years on, Malegaon blast case hearing still underway

Special NIA court is yet to examine more than 100 witnesses in the case, while all accused are out on bail

First India Bureau

Mumbai: It has been 14 years since the Malegaon blast, but the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court is yet to examine more than 100 witnesses—even as 26 have turned hos tile—in the case trial.

As per NIA, nearly 450 witnesses were sought to be examined

in the case, and the spe cial court has only ex amined 272 witnesses.

Seven of the accused, including Bharatiya Ja nata Party (BJP) MP

Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Puro hit, are facing trial and have been charged un der the Unlawful Activi ties (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the case, which is being investi gated by the national

probe agency.

All the accused are currently out on bail.

In 2015, the Supreme Court had directed for

petition in the Bombay High Court claiming that despite the apex court order, the trial was not being expedit ed.

Earlier this year, the high court sought peri odical reports from the special court on the sta tus of the trial.

rashtra’s Nashik dis trict.

According to the Ma harashtra police, which conducted the initial inquiry in the case, the motorcycle was regis tered in Thakur’s name which led to her arrest.

The case was later handed over to the NIA.

the trial to be concluded expeditiously.

Later, one of the ac cused in the case, Sa meer Kulkarni, filed a

On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and more than 100 injured when an ex plosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Male gaon, a communally sensitive town in Maha

Besides Thakur, Purohit and Kulkarni, the others facing trial in the case are Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Ra hirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi.

The accused have

been charged under In dian Penal Code (IPC) sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA and under Sec tions 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (mur der), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntar ily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting en mity between two reli gious groups).

If convicted under these sections, the max imum punishment can be life imprisonment or death.

Jalna: A 30-year-old labourer was arrested for allegedly killing his one-and-a-half-yearold daughter in a fit of rage after an argument broke out with his wife on Wednesday. The accused threw his daughter in a pond situ ated on a farm without his wife’s knowledge in Nidhina village of Jalna Tehsil. When his wife failed to find the daughter, she launched a search, which was assisted by the accused and a complaint was lodged at Chandna zira police station. The accused, identified as Jagannath Dhakne, kept changing his statements and finally admitted to the crime after sustained grilling. Mumbai: The Mum bai police arrested two accused for allegedly stabbing a man to death in the Mankhurd area of Mumbai. “A com plaint was received at the Mankhurd Police Station that an unknown person brutally killed the complainant’s brother by stabbing him for unknown reasons. In absence of evidence, based on information and technical exper tise, two accused were arrested and the murder was ex posed,” the Mumbai police tweeted.

—Dr Jagdeesh Chandra,

CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India

Bombay High Court

—FILE PHOTO

First India Bureau

One of the accused facing trial is BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur.

—FILE PHOTO

CRUCIAL READ

FATHER DROWNS TODDLER, COOKS UP ABDUCTION STORY FOR COPS

MAN STABBED TO DEATH, TWO ARRESTED WITH TECH HELP

Gautam Navlakha has been diagnosed with colon cancer.

A bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy also allowed Navlakha’s partner Sabha Husain and his sister to meet him in the hospital

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi Thackeray visited the Tembhi Naka Navratri Mandal in Thane district on Thursday. She offered prayers to Goddess Durga on Day 04 of the nine-day Navratri festival. —PHOTO BY PTI

“Festival bonanza for commuters” includes addition of 31 AC services, 15-coach services to increase from 79 to 106

The number of suburban train services will increase from 1,375 to 1,383. —FILE PHOTO

LET’S ROOT FOR THE BOOT

Boots are a girl’s new go-to accessory, they are available from winter white to rainbows to playful prints. City First brings to you the best boot fashion trends for this season.

unsure of how to style mid-calf boots, take note from Hailey Beiber and simply create a pair of jeans into them or try it with a classy coat for a stylish look

COWBOY BABY

UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in

ven though winter hasn’t even official ly arrived but if you are already stuck in a rut with your cold-weather attire, you’re not alone.

Stylish coats, long sleeve shirts, scarves, and every one’s favourite boots ever!

No matter if you prefer high heels or sneakers, boots have a powerful ef fect on everybody who loves shoes. Just like sneakers and skirts, the combination of a feminine frock with a more manly shoe style is unquestionably one that works.

Shoes can be as basic as flipflops or as complicated as boots.

Although high heels are viewed as a woman’s style in western so cieties, shoes can have low or high heels. There are also shoes with uppers that are designed high enough to cover the ankles; a shoe with an upper that rises above the ankle is typically re ferred to as a boot, however other designs may be called hightopped shoes or high-tops. To re shape the fashion world, City First brings to you the best boot fashion trends for this season.

TRENDY NEUTRAL

Neutral gives the best camou flage vibes and is currently rul ing the fashion world. If you’re

If talking about boots then cow boy boots come first in my mind, their sassy look and leather touch are enough to make any one crazy after them. We can carry this popular source of fashion with a midi skirt and a cosy sweater for an abruptly cool winter look.

POP OF PRINT

Boots with prints are a perfect example of funky fashion, if you are more into pop fashion and bright colours and prints do things with your heart then you can simply go for these trend set ters. Try adding a pair of snake print boots for an unexpected hint of colour and print.

EMBROIDERED BOOTS

How can we not talk about Em broidered boots? Work of Em broidered Boots is an art of giving diverse countenances to the same shoe material by adding unique designs and patterns to it. Tuck a pair of denim jeans into leather knee-high boots for a contrasting look that can be dressed up or down.

SEQUIN BOOTS

Add some glimmer to your look with a breathtaking se quin boots. If you really want to go for it, wear them with a pair of blue denims and long coat.

G

rowing up as a theatre kid, I re member how creative, collabo rative, and confi dent my theatre peers were. They were the best listeners, fantastic teammates, smart problem-solvers, and so in tune with their emotions.

Acting has been the most versatile of the per forming arts. It has been a medium of expression and a popular channel to take up social issues.

Ask any group of chil dren what their dream job is when they grow up, and you’ll hear at least a handful of them shout out “Actress!”, “Actor!” or “Movie star!”. From the moment your child lays eyes on their very first film or live performance, the dazzling glamour of the stage or silver screen is bound to draw them in.

The charisma and talent of our favourite perform ers can still leave us speechless as adults, so it’s no wonder that young kids are just as star struck.

Acting classes for kids provide an age-appropri ate outlet for your young ones to nurture their ar tistic side through learn ing movement, drama and performance skills.

City First highlights a few passionate chil dren from Ra jasthan, men tored by Kritesh Agarwal, a Jaipur-based filmmaker, act ing coach and casting direc tor, who are set ting benchmarks in the television industry at a young age.

THE RISING PASSION!

ACTING: A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY, A BURST OF COLOURS, A PALETTE OF EMOTIONS!

Aanya Galav, 6 years old from Kota Rajasthan is a true star. Her moth er’s constant support and guidance has helped Aanya tap her highest potential. She started her television presence with the Big Boss fashion show in 2019 and bagged the princess of the year, later, she joined Act to Action screen acting school in Jaipur when she was just 3 years old. From the beginning, she was a very talkative and expressive kid who could grab things very quickly and as a result, she got many opportunities to work with various national TVCs like Hyundai cars and joy e-bikes among others. Recently Aanya is streaming in a Dettol advertisement and soon her film with Bollywood stars Dimple Kapadia and Angora Khan will be released. Kritesh Agarwal, casting director and Aanya’s acting coach said, “She did very well in her online audition of Doosri Maa, that the production team which was earlier looking for Jaipur-based actors only changed their mind and her performance convinced them to cast her for the character of Nupur Gupta, the younger daughter of Yashoda in ‘Doosri

ranay Prashant Malpani, a 13 years old based in Jaipur. He started his acting career in 2019 at ‘Act to Action’ acting school in Jaipur. Since child hood, he has actively participated in all the atric activities at his school, Maheshwari Pub lic School. Coming from a joint family, he has grown up with immense values and traditions and has an understand ing of emotions. All this has helped Pranay in this acting career. His consistent train ing for the past 3.5 years under his mentor Kritesh Agarwal has also shaped him. He has done a music al bum, various modelling shows, and web series.

advika Sharma, 8 years old based in Dausa, Rajasthan, started her acting career in 2019 with ‘Act to Action’ acting school in Jaipur. She used to travel for her training every day. Aadvika has been fortunate enough with highly supportive parents who gave wings to her dreams and let her discover her true passion at an ear

She has done various shoots, and short films under Rising Passion Productions and late ly did PTKK season 12 on ZingTv. The young kid was recently featured in Hero panti 2 and Tata Punch ad vertisements. Aadvika shift ed to Pinkcity for her educa tion from Neerja Modi School and started her ex tensive training under Act to Action school, with Kritesh Agarwal as the mentor who cast her in ‘Doosri Maa’, a daily soup streaming on &TV and production

MITALI

Pranay has played a lead role in the short film Chowmein streaming on MX player.

Kritesh Agarwal

The crazy ‘Act to Action’ team

Kritesh Agarwal with the talented children

Act to Action kids during rehearsals

Aanya Galav

Pranay Prashant

Aadvika Sharma

PERSONAL EVOLUTION

Trailer release

Parineeti Chopra and Harrdy Sandhu starrer Code Name: Trianga trailer released on Thursday. The film is action-packed and Parineeti will be seen do ing some intense action scenes as a RAW agent.

When the trailer was released, many celebrities praised her. Her Ishaqzaade co-star Arjun Kapoor appreciated the trailer. He shared it on his Instagram stories.

The actor, who is in Scotland currently, wrote, “@ parineetichopra This looks amazing. Make way for an action-packed dhamaka!: In the film, Parineeti Chopra is playing a RAW agent and is on a fear less mission for the country. Harrdy Sandhu is playing the role of a doctor.

Sharing the trailer on social media, Parineeti wrote, “HERE IT IS! - TRAIL

ER OUT NOW #CodeNameTiranga trailer out now! Releasing in cinemas on 14th October 2022.”

POOJA HEGDE CHANNELS INNER DIVA

Pooja Hegde has success fully estab lished her status as a fashioni sta with some im pressive dress choic es both on and off the screen. Recently, a video of the Radhe Shyam star garner ing eyeballs in a sleeveless green gown has made it to social media. This latest ensemble of the Beast star was for an event in Hy derabad. The star even dropped a few

sneak peeks from the evening on her Instagram account.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Pooja Hegde will be seen sharing screen space with Mahesh Babu in Tri vikram Srini vas' directori al SSMB28. The makers have concluded the first schedule for the much-awaited dra ma.

NEW PHASE OF MOTHERHOOD

Priyanka Chopra is completely en joying the new phase of moth erhood in her life and her so cial media space is proof of the same. A few mo ments back, Priyan ka took to the story feature on Instagram and shared a new picture with Malti. In the photo, the actress can be seen tak ing her baby daughter on a walk, while she carried her in a stroller. Priyanka looked pretty as she donned a knitted white dress and left her hair open. She wore a pair of white heels to match her outfit. Little Malti can be seen dressed in an adorable white dress as well. Sharing the photo, Priyanka wrote, “Just two girls walkin’

PEPPY NUMBER

Ayushmann Khurrana and Ra kul Preet Singh are gearing up for their next release Doctor G. On Thursday they released a peppy number featuring Ayushmann Khurrana and Rakul Preet Singh’s dance moves.

Sharing the song on his Instagram handle, Ayushmann wrote, “Ab

CPR ki nahi zaroorat! Aapke dil ki dhadkan badhaane #DoctorG has brought to you his special remedy, the #DilDhakDhakKarta Hai song. Song out now! #DoctorGIn Cinemas on 14th Oc tober 2022.”

NAVRATRI

hraddha Kapoor is one of the most popular ac tresses in B’Town. Lately, Shraddha has been sharing sneak peeks of her Navratri celebrations as she drops photos of her in out fits that coordinate with the col our for each day of the festival.

And so, as day three of Navratri is associated with the colour blue, she shared a selfie wearing the same hue.

A few hours back, Shraddha took to her Instagram space and shared a picture on the story feature on the social media platform. The actress shared a boo merang as she clicked a mirror selfie and winked at her reflection.

Sharing the photo, Shraddha wrote, “Navratri Day 3 – Royal Blue Tranquility (medi tation emoji) 9 Ratri9Rang.”

Deepika Padukone

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone

Her post...

Still from the song...

Parineeti Chopra

Priyanka Chopra

Rakul Preet Singh

Her story...

Shraddha Kapoor

Pooja Hegde

Arjun’s

REJECTED EACH OTHER INITIALLY: ZAID & SONAL

clusive conversation with Ashish Tiwari of First India Zaid and Sonal open up on the movie and more.

Ektaa in trouble!

Ektaa Kapoor al ways knows what content her view ers need and ex actly delivers that. Her OTT website, ALTBala ji has some of the most viewed series making it a very successful online viewing platform. Her OTT series XXX is an erotic comedy-drama that focuses on differ ent aspects of sexual relationships in each episode. While the first season came out in 2018, the second season pre miered in 2022.

But the series has caused Ektaa im mense trouble as an arrest warrant has been issued against her and her mother, Shobha Kapoor on the charges of insulting soldiers and hurting the sentiments of their families through the web series. Judge Vi jay Kumar issued the ar rest warrant on the basis

of a complaint filed by Shambhu Kumar. Kumar who himself is an ex-serviceman is a resident of Begusarai. In his complaint, he mentioned that there are several objec tionable scenes in the series related to the wife of a soldier. Ad vocate Hrishikesh Pathak told PTI that the summons had been is sued and the court asked the mother-daughter duo to appear before the court in connection to the matter.

ASHISH TIWARI cityfirst.mumbai@firstindia.co.in

Zaid Khan and Sonal Mon teiro are cur rently bracing themselves for their time

Travel' pan-In dia film Banaras, the trailer launch event saw the actors address media from various in dustries. The movie is Directed by Jayathirtha of Bell Bottom fame.

Banaras is a film on the beauty, rich legacy, and culture of Banaras, which is located in Ut tar Pradesh. This is the first South Indian film to be shot entirely in Banaras, and the film will feature all of the main Ghats. In an ex

Being a debut, The movie’s trailer has been receiving an overwhelm ing response on it Zaid Said, “We have worked hard so much for this ap preciation, that’s what we expect out of a film”.

Speaking on the same Sonal Said, “ I was con fused initially with the genre of the film. It’s a mysterious package.

When I heard the script I couldn’t understand it in one go. I said yes only for the content of this movie. It’s brilliantly written and the direc tor’s vision can be seen on the big screen when it releases”

Speaking on his de but he shared, “ Being a debutant, we have only one chance to prove our talent, so yes I am very lucky that with this film I re

ceived that opportunity to do that. I always like to portray myself and can not pretend anything.”

While Sonal Is a known name in the In dustry her character in Banaras is something that people are looking forward to, “It’s a very happy moment for me that people are loving

beauty. As the script de manded me to be a homely girl I had no preparations at all. My character is very emo tionally engraved.”

Talking about their chemistry they said, “ We shared a very genu ine bond even on the sets

initially there were dif ficulties as we couldn’t bond earlier. When we started working we cre ated a camaraderie that’s here to last “

Sharing their first ex pression Zaid Said, “ I had rejected Sonam on the first look but the di rector was very keen on her to play the charac ter and today I realise I was wrong she’s the perfect fit “ To which Sonal added, “Indeed Initially even I was sceptical of how things would work out but now as our personalities have matched I believe me and said are thick friends “

While Yash and Kiccha Sudeep have already carved their name as pan India stars being in their league Zaid Shared, “I can never compete with anyone. Also, my competition is with myself”. Add ing to that Sonal

said, “ Indeed we should also have Pan Indian Actress, but yes things are changing. All ac tresses are very smart in choosing the charac ters they want to por tray.” The trailer begins with remembering Late Puneeth Rajkumar, sharing the moment Zaid said, “ I was very close to Appu Sir, and I dearly miss him. He was my first Friend in the Industry even though our families are very dear to each other. He was my Well-wish er, guide and Inspi ration. I even want ed him to launch the poster with him. But unfortunately, it couldn’t happen. And I’ll always regret the fact that I couldn’t show him the film.” Sonal added, “While doing Pancha tantra, as a newcomer he boosted my confi dence and I believe that one compliment has made me strong that I can do everything.

Killer Haseena out Now !

Two of the most popular music sensations Tul si Kumar and Arjun Kanungo col laborate for the very first time on ‘Killer Haseena’ produced by Bhushan Kumar. The dance track with a modern, unique soundscape sung and featuring Tulsi Ku mar and Arjun Ka nungo is out now and has much to offer au diences with its new sound and an even more intriguing mu sic video. With lethal and gothic visuals, coupled with the dy namics shared be tween both music art ists, ‘Killer Hasee na’ brings audienc es something stand-out and dis tinctive both in terms of sound and visuals.

ARJUN AND SUNNY START SHOOTING FOR SPLITSVILLA X4

Arjun Bijlani and Sunny Leone, who are all set to embark on the Splits villa X4 journey as the hosts, recently shared a slew of pictures as they reached Goa. Take a look.

Arjun Bijlani and Sunny Le one are all set to take on the Splitsvilla Journey as the hosts for season X4. The duo is host ing the season for the very first time together. The last season was hosted by Rannvijay Singha

Arjun steps into the role of Ran nvijay. Recently, Arjun shared pictures as he headed to Goa for the shoot. Now, Sunny Leone has also arrived at the destina tion, and Arjun shared a slew of pictures on social media.

On Sunday, the Naagin fame took to his Instagram account and shared sneak peeks as they reached Goa. Arjun shared a video in which he can be seen enjoying his evening jog at the beach. He appeared carefree in his Uber

on the beach. The silhouette picture looked absolutely breathtaking. Another picture showed the actor taking a re laxed selfie with his hair pushed back with a band. The third pic ture showed the hosts of Splits villa X4, Sunny Leone and Ar jun Bijlani, striking a selfie together. The duo looked all smiles in the picture show ing the victory sign. Shar ing the picture, the actor wrote, "The one is missing but it's season 14 (indicating their

Says Tulsi Kumar, “There couldn’t have been a bet ter track than ‘Killer Haseena’ for me and Arjun Kanungo to collabo rate on.

DeepVeer NOT okay?

No doubt the most endearing Bol lywood couple is Ranveer Sin gh and Deepika Padu kone. Their love story is no less than a fair ytale. The two started dating in 2012, got mar ried in 2018 and since then have been set ting relationship goals. However, the couple lately has been trending on so cial media with some users tweeting that “all is not well” be tween them. On the internet, the power couple's rumoured breakup is spreading like wildfire.

It all began with a tweet stating, “BREAK ING! Everything is not OK between #Deepika Padukone & #Ran veerSingh!” this tweet went viral in no time and was massively

Alia warns Karan

One of the best talk shows, Koffee with Karan 7, has de lighted viewers ever since it first premiered. Addi tionally, KJo asked guests a series of steamy questions on rapid fire. Now that KWK 7 has come to an end, KJo invited Tanmay Bhat, Ku sha Kapila, Danish Sait and Nihari ka NM to serve as jury members for the Koffee with Karan Awards in the finale episode.

The jury members were spotted roasting Karan Johar and every thing that he’s been criticised for the season. KJo asked if they think he talks a lot about Alia Bhatt on the show. In addition, he said Alia Bhatt told him to stop mentioning her on the show.

Later, when the episode starring Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh won the Best Episode Award, Karan called Alia. When he mentioned being criti cized for taking her name, Alia jokingly said, “Karan, basically you can never take my name ever again, you have to swear.

Just say mean things about me from now on.” Karan then asked her, “Should we have a mock fight, Alia? Like a Twitter fight?” Alia laughed and replied, “Yeah let’s have a fallout.”

shared by the fans and netizens. This tweet led to fans speculating if this was true. In fact, many lashed out at the user in the comments section for spreading fake news. One netizen wrote, “Bro your news about Katrina Kaif being pregnant was also wrong. I have my doubts about this breathing news!”

However, during a recent event, Ranveer was asked about his relationship with Deepika, and the actor’s moving statement put an end to all the spec ulations. “Touch wood. We met and started dating in 2012. So 2022 is ten years of me and Deep ika," Ranveer said.

Penned by Vayu and Diksha C and composed by Arjun Kanungo, the track is directed and choreo

graphed by Adil Shai kh, who adds a myste rious and captivating flavour to the music video. Both Tulsi Ku mar and Arjun Ka nungo bring their sig nature individual styles and feature in new avatars as they step outside their comfort zones.

Zaid Khan and Sonal Monterio

Ektaa Kapoor

Tulsi Kumar

Poster of the MV

Sunny Leone

Alia Bhatt

Deepika Padukone